Firstly, our services will work with any built-in camera or microphone on your computer, however, there is a wide range of peripheral devices for audio & video that will extend the quality of your overall meeting experience.

Typically, audio video devices built-in to your computer are not the greatest quality. Although most USB compatible devices will work, the list below will provide you with some recommendations to get started.

The list has been divided into two sections, desktop peripherals, which are for personal use & conference room peripherals, for providing audio visual to mid - larger rooms.

Desktop Peripherals for video conferencing

HD Video USB Webcams:

Description - These webcam models will offer HD quality images with the C920 & C615 capable of 1080p. Although, these webcams have built-in microphones, we do recommend a seperate USB microphone for optimal audio. The C920 does offer a dual mic, which would be the best option if your looking for an all-in-one solution.

USB Microphones:

Description - The Chat 150 offers full duplex audio with 3 built-in microphones. The device is compact and easy to take with you. This device could also provide good quality audio from a small meeting room.

Description - A USB Speakerphone for your mobile or tablet. This is an ideal option if your joining meetings from your mobile device. The P710E will allow you to stand your mobile or tablet upright and connects into the audio source for an improved audio experience.

Description - The Calisto 620 is a wireless desktop speakerphone. No chords necessary as the device will connect to your computer via bluetooth. Includes an echo cancelling microphone with full duplex audio.

Conference Room Peripherals for Video Conferencing

HD Video Conference Room Cameras:

Description - Logitech offers a few options, the CC3000e designed for mid sized groups, & the BCC950 designed for small groups or rooms. Both solutions are capable of 1080p quality and 30 fps (framer per second).

Conference Room Microphones:

Description - The Phoenix Quattro3 is a USB high end conference room microphone that can accommodate rooms of all sizes. For mid to large size rooms, multiple Quattro3's can be daisy chained together to accommodate.

Description - The Yahama echo cancelling microphone can be used with small groups or multiple devices can be connected to extend it's range. It's reccomended range is 1.5 meters in any direction from the device.

Description - The Revolabs Fusion is a wireless microphone system for mid-large size conference rooms. With no wires, you can strategically place the wireless microphones to achieve audio coverage across your entire room.

Meeting rooms allow you to to create a dedicated space where you can meet with others. There is no pre-defined way that insists how meeting rooms are used, so you have the flexibility to adapt this feature to your company requirements.

A meeting room can be an individual room that you create for a specific type of meeting or more general reflecting a departmental purpose. For example, a weekly sales or executive meeting, or dedicated meeting space for departments like HR or IT. Meeting rooms are a simple way to persistently keep a meeting active, which could be linked to various aspects of your operations.

Creating a meeting room

When you create a meeting room, the following options are available:

Topic - Give the room a name

Join before host - do you want to allow participants to join the room prior to the hosts arrival

Meeting Start Page

With meeting rooms, the URL generated will navigate your participants to a starting page prior to joining the meeting. This intermediary step, provides the attendee with further information about the meeting they are about to join. For example, the meeting start page will display the following information:

Meeting Host - yourself

Company that you represent

Meeting Topic

Custom notes / description

Start type of meeting (Screen Share or Video)

Audio Options (voip, telephony or both)

The participant can then click on "Join Meeting" to enter your meeting room. Our roadmap will continually develop this feature allowing you greater control over the information that is displayed, as well as, customization of the branding.

Tips:

By enabling join before host, other participants can join the meeting room and start a conversation prior to your arrival

Create a group and attach to your meeting room. If you need to add/remove participants, you can easily edit the group

Meeting rooms can be linked throughout your business, for example: a dedicated room for IT or HR support, a external room for servicing clients

Update 16/12/2014: basic branding is now enabled for the meeting start pages, allowing you to display your company logo & customize the colour scheme.

If security and host control over your online meetings is important at your company, then you could consider the following 10 features:

Enable end-to-end 128-bit encryption

Add a password to your meetings

Enable wait-for-host to join

End the meeting

Lock the meeting

Chat with one participant or all

Mute audio or disable video for one or all participants

Remove participant

Enable/disable one or all participants to record

Temporarily pause screen sharing when a new window is opened

Enabling end-to-end encryption

Your presentation content during an online meeting can be encrypted by enabling the advanced encryption standard (AES) 128-bit algorithm. This feature is enabled at the user level within your account. Once enabled, all meetings performed by the user will be AES encrypted.

Note: Encryption can effect the performance of a meeting as it requires greater processing cycle at the end devices. Typically, this can cause an impact with older devices and/or a limited connection to the internet.

Add encryption at the user level

To enable encryption, you can add this option when creating a new user or editing an existing user under the accounts tab.

As the encryption is performed at the user level you can determine which user accounts require encryption, versus, some services that will require the entire account to be encrypted for the feature to work.

Password secure your meetings

Enabling a password can add an additional layer of security to your online meetings. This option is set when scheduling a meeting. When enabled, all participants will be promoted to enter the password prior to joining the meeting.

Wait for host is enabled by default

All meetings by default will force all participants to wait for a host to join prior to allowing them to enter the meeting. When scheduling a meeting, users will need to select "Enable join before host", if they want to allow participants to join prior to their arrival.

End a meeting

As a meeting host you have the option to end a meeting for all participants

Lock a meeting

Meeting hosts can lock a meeting, preventing any further participants from joining

Chat

Send a private message to one participant or to send it to all

Mute audio or disable video

As the host of the meeting, you have the ability to mute audio and disable video feeds for one or all participants.

Remove participant from meeting

During a meeting, meeting hosts can remove a participant from the meeting. The participant will be removed and cannot re-enter the meeting via the meeting link.

Enable or disable access to recording

Hosts can enable or disable access for users to record the meeting. By default, users need to request permission to record. All recordings are saved to the users desktop. No recordings are stored on meeting servers.

Pause screen sharing

When sharing your screen or desktop during a meeting you have the option to temporarily pause your screen share session. This can be ideal for privacy reasons, if you need to pull up another screen, however, do not want this screen shared to the audience.

If your interested in charging a fee for online meetings for tutorial or consultation, then you will want to learn more about our paid meetings and Stripe. This is a general overview regarding these features. If you would like assistance getting this set-up on your account, please contact us.

What is a paid meeting?

Firstly, our paid meetings feature allows you to schedule a meeting and associate a charge. A chargeable meeting could consist of a 1 to 1 lesson or coaching session, small group training, or a larger presentation style format. When scheduling a paid meeting, you can set as a single event, or recurring series, which encompasses your meeting costs. Lastly, paid meetings can also be integrated into your web presence, to easily schedule, charge & meet with your customers.

What is this Stripe thing?

Stripe is a payment processor, similar to PayPal, but better. They charge a similar amount to most payment processors at 2.9% fee on the total plus a 30 cent per transaction charge (same as PayPal). All payments from Stripe are automatically deposited into your bank account within 7 days of the transaction.

Stripe Connect

With Stripe Connect, you can associate your Stripe account with Batipi, allowing you to create paid meetings. Under our profile settings, you are presented with the option to Connect Stripe. If you have a Stripe account, then you will be directed to login & authorize our application, if not, there is a 1-page application that you will need to fill out. With correct information, accounts will be approved & authorized on the spot.

Stripe accounts are currently available in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, & Ireland. An updated list can be seen here, for countries expected to be supported next by Stripe.

Managing Registrations & Payments

Notifications & Access

Any registrations to your paid meeting are logged under notifications within the dashboard. You will see who has registered for the meeting (name & email). After successful registration the paid guest user will be presented with a unique meeting code which can be copied to their calender.

Managing Payments or Refunds

All transactions can easily be managed from your Stripe account dashboard. If a guest user cannot make your meeting (and your allowing refunds), you can simply one-click refund this transaction within Stripe.

Paid meetings can be an effective way to skip the in-person meeting, deliver your consultation online using the latest in HD video & audio conferencing. Go to profile - stripe, under the Batipi dashboard to get started by connecting your Stripe account. If you do not have a Batipi account, you can sign-up here free.

As technology increases, the traditional ways people communicate has changed. Workers can now communicate much easier than they were previously able to do. Now all it takes is just a few clicks and you're instantly connected to those you'd wish to talk with. Video conferencing has made collaboration between people and businesses much more easier. Instead of having to meet in person, or make long distance phone calls, those on the cutting edge, can just start a video conference and collaborate on any matter they need to. The best part is it's extremely easy to do without much cost. All that's needed is an internet connection and a computer (of course your webcam helps too.) Now collaboration in the workplace has never been easier. Say a business needs to call up another to analyze which strategic path the pair should make next, years ago, this would have either been a normal phone call or even a visit. However with video conferencing they'd be able to converse in hardly no time at all.

The people of yesteryear dreamed about this sort of technology as if it were science fiction, just as we do with flying cars. They never imagined that it would become a reality. Video conferencing also allows people to show charts and other documents, allowing for better collaboration between two companies. There are no limits on how much video conferencing can help improve business collaboration. Some programs even allow those who are conferencing to draw graphs and show the other person stuff right from their screens. Another plus to this is that it's much cheaper than flying in to collaborate or even paying for long distance phone calls (plus phone calls are less personable). Collaboration is a very important part of running a successful business, and for keeping business networks strong. By using video conferencing, it allows people to collaborate right from their own office, from their desk, or even mobile phone, which saves time and money. It's also much more personal than an email or a regular phone call, which can help strengthen the bond between two businesses. Seeing the person whom you are talking to is more important than most would think, just as body language is. Seeing who you are talking with, and being able to get your ideas out and show proof is very important. Video conferencing just makes all of this so much easier and quicker as well.

Many businesses would be lost without video conferencing, as it deeply enriches their collaboration between themselves and other businesses. This is why technology should always be utilized when it comes down to business. Collaboration is much easier when video conferencing is used, and it doesn't take away from the personal effect either. And since a video conference can be held at anytime, the ties between the collaborators will in turn be much stronger than previously. The future is here, and part of that future is it's technology. By using technology, including video conferencing, your business will be stronger and better than ever imagined.